Single-board computers to help with your DIY tech projects

Each week, we spotlight a cool innovation recommended by some of the industry's top tech writers. This week's pick is a roundup of single-board computers.

A handful of new single-board computers are providing options for homemade robots and other tech projects, said Richard Baguley at Wired. The pocket-size Raspberry Pi 4 computer is still "beloved by DIY enthusiasts and hardware hackers for its versatility and ease of use." The even-smaller BeagleBoard PocketBeagle is convenient for amateur roboticists, with "an ARM-3 Cortex CPU, two 200 MHz microprocessors, and 512 MB of memory."

For a homemade media center, consider the Hardkernel Odroid-N2, which "includes everything you get with a Pi 4," just with "much better cooling," more USB 3 ports, and an IR receiver. With the free CoreELEC operating system, the $65 board "can do everything from play Netflix in HD to emulate a PlayStation for retro gaming."

This article was first published in the The Week magazine. If you want to read more like it, you can try six risk-free issues of the magazine here.